Automotive body panels are traditionally made of sheet metal or plastic material painted with layers of pigmented paints. The painting procedure for these panels requires elaborate facilities, and consequently involves heavy expenses. For instance, a large area of floor space must be maintained in a clean room environment for the spraying of paint and for the baking and curing of such paint on the body panels. The paint may include both a pigmented basecoat and transparent clear coat. Moreover, solvent-based paints have come to be considered undesirable in recent years due to environmental concerns. As a consequence, the evaporation of such solvents must be strictly controlled.
The present invention is concerned with a method of making paint composites for the painting of automobile body panels which may permit elimination of the entire painting procedure presently utilized in automobile assembly plants.
A variety of paint composites often referred to as laminates have previously been described. Typically, such composites or laminates have included a paint layer, an adhesive layer adjacent to the paint layer and a carrier film adjacent to the paint layer. The composite is applied to a substrate with the adhesive against the substrate's surface and the carrier layer on the exterior of the composite. Subsequently, the carrier layer may be generally removed or may remain as a protective layer. Patents utilizing such laminate arrangements include European Patent Application 230,364 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,640,791; 4,101,698; 4,275,099; 4,330,352; and 4,451,522.